


I lived, bitch.

by alexkmz



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, julia lived au, mentions of taakitz
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-17
Updated: 2017-10-17
Packaged: 2019-01-18 18:41:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12393885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexkmz/pseuds/alexkmz
Summary: AU where Julia survived the attack on Raven's Roost. Title is more of a joke than the fic is, but it was all I could think of I'm sorry





	I lived, bitch.

"Before we head out," Kravtiz stopped Taako for a moment. He hated to break up the fun, but this was important. "Is Magnus around?"   


Taako nodded, motioning to the fighter's room. "What do you wanna talk to him for?"   


"It's a private matter. I need to tell him something extremely important."   


The elf shrugged and let the reaper past him.   


Kravitz walked over and knocked on the door lightly, sighing heavily. Ever since they met in Lucas's Lab, this had been weighing on him. He worried how the reaction would be.  Through observing Magnus, Kravitz knew he had a tendency to be...impulsive.   


"Yeah?" Magnus said as he opened the door, clearly shocked when he saw his guest. Kravitz was supposed to be here to see Taako about their adventures in Refuge, not Magnus. "Kravitz?! I-Is this about what happened in Refuge? I thought Taako was-"   


"No, no, Taako and I will talk that out," the man at the door said, lowering his head. "This is about your wife."   


"...oh..." Magnus shifted his weight, seeming a bit more grounded. "You saw her then?"   


Kravitz let out a hard breath. It was better to just say it and get it out there.

"That's just it, Magnus...I didn't see her. She's not there."

* * *

 

When Julia Burnsides woke up, her head was throbbing, her ears were ringing, and her vision was blurry. She tried to sit up, feeling a blasting pain in her side. She sucked on her teeth, placing her hand on the pained spot.

“Sh…”

Before she could totally get her bearings, voice tried to sooth her, mysterious hands  being placed on her shoulder, trying to force her to lay down again. “You have to relax. You were hurt badly.”

“Wh-” Julia found her voice at the same time she was able to find the source of the voice with her eyes. An elderly halfling woman stood above the cot Julia laid on, reaching over to a cloth in a bowl of water. “What happened?”

“You were in Raven’s Roost when it…” she sighed. “Oh dear, how do I…” she said to herself before she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath when she spoke again. “Governor Kalen...He set off some sort of magical bomb.”

Julia felt a pit in her stomach. “How many survivors…?” She asked hesitantly. She didn’t know if she could bare to hear the number.  _ What if Dad wasn’t one of them? What if Magnus had come home early just in time to be blown away?  _ She shook the bad thoughts away, waiting for an answer that felt like was taking forever to come.

“Not many.” her caretaker finally said. “Including you, fifteen.”

Julia’s breath caught in her throat. “And what of Kalen?”

“Witnesses said they saw a human man attack him.” The halfling looked away. “They fought for a while, but in the end, they both died of their injuries.”

“Did they know the name of the man?!” Julia shot up in the cot again, almost yelling now.

“I-Fireside maybe?” The old woman’s eyes widened, seeming scared of Julia.

“Burnsides?!”  _ No no no no no. _

“...I believe so. Did you know him?”

Julia threw herself out of the cot, stumbling towards the door of the small home she figured belonged to the old halfling. Only later was she able to think about that, though. Now, it was like a horse had hit her. She needed to get out. She needed air. Outside Julia dropped to her knees, tears finally freeing themselves from her eyes and streaming down her face.

Inside, the halfling woman, named Laura, closed her eyes. “Are you happy?” she asked the shadow hiding in her corner with disgust in her voice.

“Ecstatic,” Governor Kalen said as he stepped into the light. The Burnsides had been a thorn in his side for too long. If even a bomb couldn’t kill them, keeping them far apart was the only way to weaken them, and if he killed her now, she would get to wait for him in death. If they both thought the other was dead, they would get the opportunity to move on from each other. The heartbreak of a lost loved one was nothing compared to the heartbreak of said loved one moving on from you.

* * *

 

“Did you know?” was all Magnus said as he barged into Lucretia’s office.

“Know what?” Lucretia merely looked up from her book, confused, but not scared.

“That my wife was alive!” Magnus slammed his fists down on the desk. He knew there were a million things that she was keeping from them. This had to be one of them, right? Lucretia was letting him believe his wife was dead to keep him on the trail of the artifacts.

He could see the gears moving in Lucretia’s head, possibly trying to find another lie to  satisfy him. Instead, she seemed just as shocked as he was when Kravitz told him.

Since that time, Magnus barely missed a beat. He rushed out to talk to the voidfish, looking for any answers he could get about himself, The Bureau, and Julia. The voidfish had no answers on Julia. The next person he thought of who could possibly have anymore information was Lucretia. He didn’t even think to ask Taako and Merle about it.

“Juli- Your wife is alive?” Lucretia looked seriously concerned, the same look she had when she found out that Merle, Taako, and Magnus had spoken to the Red Robe. “Magnus I wouldn’t keep something like that from you.”

“You’ve been keeping a hell of a lot from us, how do I know this isn’t something else you’ve lied about?” Magnus continued to interrogate her while trying to keep from exploding. He needed something, any kind of lead to get started on the hunt for Julia.

“I-” Lucretia began.

“Magnus!” Merle shouted from behind the fighter. “What the hell are you doing?”

Magnus turned around, noticing that both of his reclaimer partners were standing in the doorway. “Julia’s  _ alive _ , guys. I have to go find her,” Magnus knew there was desperation and vulnerability in his voice. He didn’t care.

“We need you here, compadre.” Taako said, clearly concerned for his friend. “We’d get our asses beat out there without you being our meat shield.”

Magnus shook his head. “You don’t understand!”

“We understand completely, Magnus.” Merle said, stepping forward. “I would do anything to reconnect with a loved one, especially if I thought they were dead.”

“If she’s lived this long out there, she’s surviving, Magnus.” Taako also tried to subdue the large man. “We can have Kravitz keep an eye out for her-” 

“I need to know she’s safe…” Magnus started, feeling the tinge of tears forming in his eyes.

“You have no idea where she is,” Lucretia finally spoke again, standing up. “While you are going after the next artifact, I will do everything in my power to try to find her.”

Magnus turned back to The Director, sighing heavily in concession. “Promise me you’ll find her.”

Lucretia thought for a moment, giving an answer that  wasn’t what Magnus wanted to hear, but he expected that it was the best she could have possibly given. “I’ll try.”

* * *

 

Julia dragged her prisoner along, throwing him to his knees in front of the officer at the front desk.

“I’m here to collect on Jeff Jefferson,” she said simply, staring down the Neverwinter guard.

The guard eyed the prisoner, nodding. “Figured we wouldn’t be getting him back alive,” he said.

“Bounty said dead or alive,” Julia responded, as if to make sure the deal was made in full. “Is that no longer the case?”

“No, no...just most hunters choose dead. Easier transport,” the guard said as he stood up, going to the back for a moment before coming back with a sack of coin. He tossed it on the desk while Julia freed Jeff from his handcuffs.

“Pleasure doing business with ya,” the guard joked, taking the prisoner in his own handcuffs while Julia wrapped the handcuffs and attached chain up and attached it back to her belt. She tipped her hat before grabbing the sack.

As she walked out of the building, she counted the coins inside the sack. She smirked at the gold. Maybe she’d stop off at a tavern and celebrate.

The sound of screams stopped her in her tracks.

Her head snapped up to see people running and being cut down left and right...but she saw no attackers. People were just falling over dead. As she unsheathed her crossbow, a pack of guards from the building she had just left rushed past her. They were slaughtered by the invisible army.

Then it happened.

A blue light washed over Neverwinter and herself, followed quickly by a green light.

There was a sudden burst of knowledge inside her mind, like a light bulb being turned on for the first time.

She saw Magnus. She saw him with people- friends- family. She saw him on his journey. She saw the 100 years of his fight against The Hunger.

That’s what this no longer invisible threat was. It was The Hunger.

Immediately Julia lept into action, firing a bolt off into the head of what looked like some kind of robot. It had been attacking a little girl before Julia disabled it.

“Come on! Everyone, get inside!” She shouted, holding open the doors to the station as she continued to fire and hold off the army of darkness. When they got too close, she’d used her daggers, stabbing and cutting down anything that tried to harm the unarmed civilians who couldn’t fight back. Later she’d realize just how many cuts and bruises she got from this fight. Now, she barely even noticed.

* * *

 

Magnus squeezed Angus’ legs lightly as the boy sat on his shoulders. He watched his friends and strangers celebrate the fall of The Hunger. It was all over. Finally. A feeling of relief washed over him and he closed his eyes, allowing himself to just revel for the first time in years.

“MAGNUS!” an all too familiar voice called.

He turned around, watching people from the crowed being pushed out of the way as a hooded figure pushed through to get to him. He didn’t need to see her face to know.

“Jules,” he said breathlessly, knees immediately weak.

He felt the weight of the boy being lifted from his shoulders as he went down. Later he would find out that Taako had cast levitate on Angus to Magnus wouldn’t drop him.

Julia laughed, finally pushing past the last person so her hands were free to rest on his cheeks. “Mags…” she breathed, failing to hold back her sobs.

Magnus was in worse shape. He couldn’t even form words. He just looked at her face through his wall of tears.

She laughed again, this time at his inability to function. “You know, I always thought I was older one in the relationship, but turns out you’re probably the oldest person I know,” she teased.

He smiled, then leaned forward, kissing her desperately as if someone was going to rip her from his arms again. He never thought he would have the opportunity to hold her like this ever again.

* * *

 

The Burnsides had a happy rest of their lives together. They trained service dogs together. They had  _ ten _ kids together. Their friends and family were at their bedside when, deep into their late nineties, Julia and Magnus Burnsides died how they lived.

Together.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Myles and Nati for betaing!


End file.
